How and Why to 'bed' your new brake pads/rotors

[dtbaker61]

I've been reading about some issues about brake pads sticking to rotors with our Mach-e, and it occurred to me that with 1-pedal regen on the Mach-e many people probably have never 'bed' their brake pads/rotors; and I would bet that it is NOT part of the Dealer prep before you picked up your car.

This procedure will help prevent 'slip-stick' feeling when braking, and help prevent a layer of rust from forming between pads and rotors if you park when rotors are wet

This requires several moderate mechanical stops from 45mph to 10mph to warm up the rotors, 5 to 10 REALLY hard stops from 60+mph to 10mph to heat the rotors up to the point of smokin hot, and transfer a little brake material to the rotor, and then 10-20 minutes of highway driving to allow the rotors to cool down evenly before you park. There is a more detailed writeup here:
https://brakeperformance.com/bedding-in-rotors.php

I would highly encourage people to follow this procedure after taking delivery of your new car, or when you change pads/rotors.... It will help prevent 'sticking', uneven braking, and let you learn just how fast your vehicle can STOP as well as you know how fast it can accelerate.

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[HuntingPudel]

The procedure is basically to heat up the new pads to out-gas the pads while not warping the rotors, then cooling off the system gradually. It is important to *never* stop the car once the procedure has begun or you risk causing a hot spot on the rotors, which could lead to warpage. Once everything is heated up, drive, drive, drive until it has gradually cooled off.

 

[Mockstang]

<3000 miles and this is what my brakes look like. I didn’t do any conditioning or break-in.

 

[dtbaker61]

The procedure is basically to heat up the new pads to out-gas the pads while not warping the rotors, then cooling off the system gradually. It is important to *never* stop the car once the procedure has begun or you risk causing a hot spot on the rotors, which could lead to warpage. Once everything is heated up, drive, drive, drive until it has gradually cooled off.

yes, it is good practice to end the bedding procedure with an easy 20 minute drive on the highway to allow rotor temp to come down before you park.

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